Mallorca es hermoso (is beautiful!)

You know that holiday smell the one that is really hard to describe but as soon as you smell it you know that you're on a break, Mallorca (Majorca) has that in spades....





It was the last bank holiday for the year so I thought lying on a beach without much sightseeing to do sounded like a very cunning plan. So I brushed up on my Spanish and in two hours there I was in 31c, six miles of beaches and in my accomodation.





There didn't seem to have been many Kiwis in Mallorca before me all the taxi drivers and hotel staff that I spoke to couldn't believe that I was from NZ as it was so far away. I had decided to stay in a part of Mallorca that was home to German, French and of course Spanish as I didn't feel like hanging in Magaluf, where 1 in 10 Brits aged 20 - 35 gets in a fight, consequently I spoke Spanish all day.

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I did do a small amount of sightseeing in Palma de Mallorca, beautiful Cathedral with the interior designed by Gaudi, and a spectacular view of Palma from Castle de Bellver.











Fantastic few days, although I blame a book I was reading for how red I got on day 2, I was using factor 30 and still got a little burnt, and they say that the NZ sun in brutal.

Newquay, Padstow, Tintagel Castle, Exmoor, Torquay, Cockington and phew Brixham

Newquay is the surfing capital of Cornwall it wasn't really my cup of tea if I was twenty again it definitely would have been so I hightailed it out of there and headed for Padstow.




Padstow is Rick Stein (famous chef) heaven he has a fish and chip shop, deli and his famous restaurant the Seafood Restaurant, apparently the young royals are frequently seen here. It was really pretty and I was glad that I got up early and experienced it before the crowds arrived.





Next stop was Tintagel Castle reported to be Camelot from Arthur and Merlin time, really etheral and a beautiful spot complete with Merlins cave.










I travelled around Exmoor, drove up Porlock Hill I was really glad I went up....I was really hoping the car wouldn't stall...as a few people have burned their breaks coming down. The villages of Exmoor are all Picture postcard perfect and I will most definitely be heading back there to ride across the moors.






Caught up with Sarah and Glen in Saunton and had a fantastic meal with them in Croyde. They live in the most beautiful area and are very very lucky indeed.




Lastly on my tour I revisited Torquay, Cockington and Brixham all in Devon for nostagia reasons as my Grandparents lived in Brixham for many years. They hadn't changed much but Brixham was wayyyyy busier than when I was there last time.

St Ives, St Michael's Mount, Lands End, Cape Cornwall and Falmouth

After spending a thoroughly relaxing couple of days in my castle accomodation in St Ives it was time to spend some more time exploring.

St Ives itself is gorgeous but as it was British school holidays it was more than a little crowded with everyone jockying for position on the beaches.







Lands End was really tacky, you had to pay 9 pounds 50 pence for a photo of the signpost so I settled for a picture of me just about getting blown away without the signposts for the cost of zilch.



I then headed for the Minack Theatre which was built by a lady entirely out of concrete perched on a cliff face, quite an extradionary feat.




By going down the most narrowest of lanes I had experienced this far I arrived at Cape Campbell much more what I thought Lands End would be like, windswept isolated and totally gorgeous I had an interesting chat here with the local coast guard about what they had seen during there times of patrolling.


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St Michael's Mount in Marazion is beautiful you can reach it by boat at high tide or by a narrow causeway at low tide, unfortunately I arrived at high tide so had to go by ferry it was a really quick trip and you can see how shallow it was (less than a metre) beautiful views from the top of the whole of Penzance bay.








Lastly on my marathon couple of days I visited Falmouth and went for a wander around Pendennis Castle which was invaded by Pirates telling tales of bloodshed and victories to all the children's delight!